


the white feather

by sodasouffle (mellowie)



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Retellings, One Shot, Prompt Fic, Secrets, The Great Fodlan Bakeoff, and then a beautiful lady shows up at his door whewhew, felix being a grumpy hunter in the mountains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:26:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24645622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mellowie/pseuds/sodasouffle
Summary: As he gets near enough to lean against the door, the knocking falters, as though cast away into the flurry of snow. He pauses for a beat when it might occur again. It does not. Frowning, he places his hand on the knob. He mustn’t let his guard down. With the dagger cold against his skin, he takes in a sharp breath.A gust of wind blasts against his face the moment Felix pushes the door open. There, in the midst of the falling snow, stands a figure in a velvet, heavy-looking cloak.(Crane's Return of a Favour Folklore AU)
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	the white feather

**Author's Note:**

> this is one of my old ideas that i thought might fit the themes for The Great Fodlan Bakeoff! the story's based on the Japanese folklore Tsuru no Ongaeshi and it's between Felix and F!Byleth. i wanted to do this for a long time and decided to take the chance to attempt at this prompt, so here's how it went!

Thin, delicate snowflakes drift over his shoulder and melt in the center heat of the room. Felix sits cross-legged by the crackling fire, cleaning his dagger with oil and a damp rag. After a day’s worth of hunting, he usually finds comfort in resting near the warm hearth. But tonight, Felix’s heart is as heavy as his blade.

Three rabbits and one pheasant from the last hunt is nothing more than a misfortune. Here in the frigid north, deer season is hurtling towards its end, seemingly bringing the other populations of wild animals along with it. Coupled with the increasingly tumultuous weather, the dismaying results of his recent hunts is to be expected.

No, he refuses to admit that he’s at the end of his wits. At the very least, he’s making a decent amount of coins off the finished pelts of his scant hunts, and he can endure the creeping chill in the air to fish in the rivers before they completely freeze over.

What Felix desperately needs at this moment is time. More of it. A moon or two in advance might absolve him of the mistake of underestimating the impending winter. Needless to say, time has neither been patient nor kind.

He heaves a deep sigh at the predicament he has gotten himself knee-deep into. If he doesn’t stock up enough on food soon, his hopes for survival will be snuffed out quicker than a flickering candle. It feels as though the Goddess is watching from the heavens above, toying with the threads of his fate to see how far it can be twisted.

Felix gives his steel dagger a final wipe. When he does, the glint of light off its surface reveals his reflection and he sees his own eyes staring back, weary and distant. He averts his gaze and sheathes the dagger without a word.

Regardless of the troubles that come his way, he will have to face it himself. That’s right, he doesn’t need to rely on anyone else. His survival instincts work best when he only has himself in mind, and it has worked out fine for him. So far. 

Felix unfolds his cotton mattress across the mat and rests his aching body down, worn out in both spirit and strength. He blows out the light of the lamp within an arm’s reach, and squeezes his eyes shut in the fallen darkness.

The window rattles against the howling winds. Turning onto his side, he pulls his blanket over his ears, drowning out the noise of the world. He empties his head of any rising uncertainties so he could avoid them spiraling out of his grasp. To live by himself and be free in the wilderness, he has come to accept that he shall carry such burdens alone as well.

Felix settles in for the night, hoping to find a moment of peace in his dreams. That's when a sudden knock arrives on the door. It is a light sound that echoes throughout the room, shaking him awake. It is a sound that doesn’t belong in the middle of a raging snowstorm. A sound that is undeniably human.

Felix’s muscles tense. He rarely gets any visitors. Rather, he never does. No one in their sound mind would make it this far up the steep mountains. He chose to live in this isolated area for that very reason.

So who could be outside in the snowstorm knocking on his door right now?

Could it be someone from his House that his father had sent? No, Felix had made sure not to leave any traces of his new home. There’s no pressing need for his father to pay him a visit either. Perhaps it’s simply a traveller lost in the blizzard who had chanced upon his house, most likely looking for shelter. It doesn’t necessarily mean they would be harmless, but it’s worth finding out.

The knock comes again, interrupting his train of thoughts. The sound is slightly weaker, but it remains distinct and clear. Felix throws off his blanket, his hand reaching for the familiarity of his dagger. He approaches the door with the same caution of when he is sneaking up on a deer.

As he gets near enough to lean against the door, the knocking falters, as though cast away into the flurry of snow. He pauses for a beat when it might occur again. It does not. Frowning, he places his hand on the knob. He mustn’t let his guard down. With the dagger cold against his skin, he takes in a sharp breath.

A gust of wind blasts against his face the moment Felix pushes the door open. There, in the midst of the falling snow, stands a figure in a velvet, heavy-looking cloak.

Their head is lowered, covered by the hood, which is reasonable considering the biting cold but it conceals their face that he is looking for. “What do you want?” Felix yells over the snowstorm once he has overcome his initial shock.

No answer. The figure stands so still in the midst of the fierce snowfall that he could have mistaken them for a statue. Thinking his question might have been lost in the wind, he prepares to repeat it but louder. That’s when the hand of the figure reaches out for the hem of their hood, and his words are caught in his throat.

Radiant hair, the colour of the cerulean seas, flows onto the slender shoulders of a young woman. Her white dress flutters in the wind and her feet are bare, as if she had stepped out of a vivid tapestry depicting the Goddess. The depths of her keen eyes hold a mysterious light. She is nearly ethereal.

All of a sudden, the snowflakes seem to float around her rather than against her. They dance along her cheek, getting caught in the strands of her hair. Felix feels a shiver down his spine, and it’s not from the cold.

He has never paid much attention to other people. His entire life has led him down a path of solitude, which entails having no time or interest to notice anyone else. But while Felix may be hesitant in expressing his feelings, he has never been the type to lie about them. And right now, he has a reluctant confession to make. She is the most beautiful woman he has ever laid eyes on.

“Please…” the maiden speaks softly. Her dainty lips, pale like a rose, tighten into a line as she clenches the cloak close to her.

Ah, at last he has gained an inkling of the situation. One of his worst fears has come true. Felix rubs his temples, a habit for when he is irked. He is duly trying to stay calm, but all the amounting stress is threatening to spread the pieces of his nerves into places apart.

“Listen, I’ll be blunt,” Felix says. “If you’re looking for food, I barely have enough to feed myself.” _Leave and go somewhere else_ , he wants to add. He definitely would have if it is directed to someone other than her. Pushing others away comes natural to him and he finds it a hassle when he fails to do so. But for some reason, he can’t bring himself to utter those words to her. Not when he is taken aback by the spark of purpose in her eyes.

From the moment they met, she has held his gaze without wavering once. It feels as though she can see through him, like she has invisible hands that can reach deep into the fibers of his being and touch his soul.

Whether he likes it or not, his gruff demeanor appears to be ineffective in making her budge. Felix finds himself shifting his glance several times. It’s not only because he is uncomfortable with eye contact or that she’s an astounding beauty; he has never encountered someone who seems to know him better than he knows himself. It makes him unbelievably nervous. But he could be merely imagining things.

“Please,” the woman’s voice is gentle and so are her eyes. “Let me help you.”

“Help me?” Felix replies, unable to contain his bewilderment. “How are you going to…?”

Finally breaking the intensity of her gaze, the woman turns to take something from behind her. Felix gains a slight relief, but when he remembers to stay alert at all times, he grips the dagger harder at his back. When she returns to face him, he sees that she carries with her a heavy sack.

“I have food,” the woman says. “Plenty of it. These are all yours to take, and yours to have. If you find the amount lacking, I will gather more if you say the word.”

If a stranger showing up at his door is incredulous enough, Felix can never imagine what belongs inside the sack. It is filled to the brim with rice. Each precious individual grain is polished and bright. They can last him through two moons, lending him an abundance of time to get ready for winter. All his worries, all the sleepless nights, are washed away into the river just like that.

“Where did you get all this? I know the harvest is growing poor and it’s a challenge to even haggle for rice in the market. Whatever means you took to get your hands on this, it must have been kept secret from the rest of the townsfolk.”

“That…” her voice drips with remorse. “Forgive me, but I cannot say. I promise there was no harm done in procuring them, so please enjoy them to your greatest fulfilment without any doubts.”

“And you expect me to believe that?” Felix furrows his brows. His voice lowers as he eyes her with suspicion. “What’s your gain in this?”

“Nothing,” the woman shakes her head. “If I can give you my help, it’s more than enough for me. I do not wish for anything in return. And if you do not seek my presence, I will gladly disappear and you shall never see me again.”

“It’s not that I want you to go away, it’s just..”

Felix can’t remember the last time he had a full meal, the kind when he would eat heartily, shoving the food down his throat and feeling it warm his belly. He can’t deny the urgency of his current plight either, nor can he bring himself to refuse her offer, even if it sounds too good to be true. But what bothers him most is the pure look of honesty in her expression that even he, who distrusts people the most, can’t find a fault in. 

“Fine. Come on in,” Felix relents, opening the door wide for her to step through.

The woman brightens at his invitation. “You’d allow me inside?”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Felix says. “I’m not going to leave you out there alone in the cold. That would make me no better than a wild boar.”

She smiles and nods with enthusiasm. As she passes by him to enter, Felix feels the brush of a cool breeze, and spots something white flying after her hand. He slowly closes the door behind her, careful to not make her notice as he bends down to pick up a fair feather that has landed on the flooring.

It is soft and downy, most likely plucked from the finest of birds. How strange, he thinks. He pockets the feather and looks up at the peculiar lady. She is already gravitating towards the center, taking everything she sees around her in awe. Seeing her so excited at things deemed ordinary, he can’t help but be amused. The cacophony of the snowstorm dissolves away in his ears, leaving only the two of them in the comfort of the house. 

Now that she is next to him, he realizes that it is the first time that he has let a guest in. Felix wonders if he should ask to be pardoned for the mess. Then again, he doesn’t consider the living room to be most untidy (he does make the effort to clean up every now and then), and he never frets much about what others think. Why should he now?

Felix crosses his arms, contemplating his next move. He is willing to welcome her, but he hasn’t given up on figuring her true motives. Surely someone who is so magnanimous without proper reason doesn’t exist. But before he tries to dig out her underlying feelings, he assumes he needs something to address her first.

“The name’s Felix,” he says. “What’s yours?”

Her head perks up at his voice. In what seems like a sudden bout of shyness, she pulls onto her cloak and looks away. “You can call me Byleth.”

“Byleth, huh?” Felix’s tongue works her name. He has certainly spoken it out loud for the first time, yet he feels as though he has known it longer than that. “Well, I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“Likewise,” her lips curl into a modest smile. “I’ve been waiting to meet you, Felix,” she adds sotto voce.

Felix freezes. There is no mistaking it. She’s hiding something. But whatever it might be, he’s not sure if he’s ready for the answer.

“Who are you?”

Her captivating gaze locks with his. Byleth steps towards him and by instinct, he reaches behind for his dagger but she takes his hand before he can. She might have been out in the snow for who knows how long, yet her skin emits a certain degree of warmth. It is silky and soft, in fact, it feels too smooth to be human. Where has he encountered the same softness before?

With all earnestness, Byleth leans forward and says the very words that will change his life.

“I’m your wife.”

**Author's Note:**

> and that's all for now haha but i'm glad i got started on it in the first place. yes Byleth is actually a crane that Felix helped to save in the past when he went out hunting in the woods. what comes after that remains to be known...
> 
> i didn't get to use all the themes of the Bakeoff though i intend to do so if i ever picked pick this up again! (which will definitely take me more than two days...)


End file.
